Saturday, March 31, 2007

Cookbook Spotlight #3: Ships of the Great Lakes

I was so happy when contacted by breadchick for the latest Cookbook Spotlight; I am constantly amazed at what high-quality books I'm given the chance to try out.

This time, it was Ships of the Great Lakes, filled with recipes from the galleys of all sorts of ships which have sailed Lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior, past through the present.

As I mentioned in an email to breadchick, I was at first concerned I wouldn't find many dishes I'd want to make. I had visions of fish-heavy chapters awaiting me.

Happy to be proven wrong, this book instead contains everything from fancy-schmancyentrees to super-casual fun foods. Gorgeous roasts, amazing soups, breads, desserts...you name, Ships of the Great Lakes had it.

Here's how this book passed our family's tests: first, I ran out of those sticky tabs I use to mark all the recipes I want to try before I got three-quarters of the way through, and second, when I handed the book to Matt to choose a couple, he went with the first ones he saw.

There's so much in here, I know I'm going to be using for years. And this froma house of very strange/picky eaters.

The first recipe I tried was perfect: a Marinated Focaccia Bread Sandwich. Sliced focaccia bread (I made my own) is spread with a marinade of onion, garlic, basil, green olives, oregano and olive oil. The bread is topped with slices of Provolone, salami, andprosciutto. Add the top layer of bread (also spread with the marinade), wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Matt took his to work, and had this to say about it: "This was very tasty, but with an ingredient list like that, how could it not be? The flavors all support each other very well, and any day when you can eatprosciutto is a good one. When making this again, we'll add more meat and cheese, though."

Pay Day Bars

This is one of those smack-yourself-in-the-head, it's so easy recipes that I've always loved. Mixing together such everyday ingredients to get something so tasty.

Mimicking the PayDay candy bar, this is Rice Chex cereal and peanuts, tossed with a cooked mixture of corn syrup, sugar, vanilla and peanut butter. Once the solids are coated, it's poured into a greased baking dish, and left to firm up.

Here's what's funny: I thought this was really sweet. Matt thought it could be sweeter. Either way, this was a pretty good snack. Amazing what you can do with the stuff sitting on our shelf!

So, we only tried these two, but we have a horrendously long list of things to try yet from the Ships of the Great Lakes Cookbook. A huge thanks to breadchick and Sara, for allowing me to once again welcome a new and wonderful cookbook to my shelves.